Greetings from Japan

by
President Nobuaki Matsuo
| May 08, 2018

Hello Washington REALTORS®!

Hyogo Prefecture is located in the Center of Japan, close to second largest city of Osaka. The main city of Kobe has been an international city with a port that opened the door in 1868. Hyogo Prefecture has been a sister state with Washington for 55 years. Kobe and Seattle have been sister cities for over 60 years now.

Our Prefecture has a variety of industries, including the manufacturing of steel, shipbuilding, and machinery, which is popular in urban areas. With our beautiful mountain ranges, rivers and ocean, our agriculture and fishing industries are thriving as well. Also, there are many shrines and other historical buildings, including World Heritage Site “Himeji Castle.”

Washington REALTORS® and Hyogo Takken have been in a bilateral relationship for the last nine years, and we are learning from each other every time we meet.

Japanese real estate industries are growing rapidly in the metropolitan area, fueled by low interest rates (less than 2%), but that is creating many vacant houses in rural areas and this is becoming a very big issue. My hope is that we can continue to learn from our relationship to improve the real estate industries and lives of our members.